Ken walked over to Dewi. The charcoal suit looked custom-tailored, slacks and blazer, and he wore a navy blue button-up under it that was nearly black. His black silk tie had a subtly embossed pattern on it with little paw prints that were only identifiable when viewed up close.
“Sothere’smy black shirt,” he teased.
“I don’t care what ye say, I’m takin’ a picture of the two of ye!” Badger said as he dug out his phone.
Dewi still tried to process howhaawwwwthe looked. “When did you buythis?”
“Gillian ordered me to. Guilt-tripped me.” He smiled. “Said she knew damned well you’d shoot Peyton and Trent if they tried to hang a big picture on the wall of just us from our wedding day. So she wants a nice picture of us dressed up that she can have blown up to an 8x10, because her plans to get good dressy pics ahead of our wedding at the rehearsal dinner got borked thanks to the Segura cartel…And, also, apparently you never sent them prom pics?”
“Okay,wow,” Dewi snarked. “She’s nursedthatgrudge nearly ten years, huh?”
“Honey, I love your family, but I gotta tell you, y’all are kinda weird.”
She snickered. “Yeah, but we’re the good kind of weird.”
Badger had them stand in front of one of the living room walls and took several pics, including Ken and Dewi kissing.
Then Ken said, “Hey, Badger, get ready for this one.”
“Yep.”
“What?” Dewi asked.
He smiled and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Slide your arm around my waist, baby.”
She did, and Badger perfectly caught her huge “O” face of happy surprise when she realized Ken was wearing a 9mm in a holster in his waistband.
“So you can leave yours in the car. Right?” Ken said.
Dewi sighed. “Yeah, I suppose. But I need to run back upstairs for a second.”
“Why?”
She draped her arms around his neck and kissed him, then whispered in his ear, “You made mesplooshmy panties.”
He nipped her ear. “Just think what I’ll do to you later, baby.”
Dewi giggled.
* * *
Ken
Okay, Gillian was right.
He’d asked her several weeks ago for ideas and he’d had his doubts about this.
Turns out his fierce Prime Alpha Enforcer matedidhave a suit fetish.
Gillian had assured Ken that, as long as he bought what she told him to and had it professionally tailored, it would be a hit with Dewi. Plus, she’d sent him the tie, a custom-made one like Peyton and Trent and a few others in the pack also wore when they had occasion to. An inside joke of sorts, with the paw prints.
They headed to a nice steakhouse where Dewi could eat her fill of rare filet mignon while Ken enjoyed the salmon.
It was fun seeing this side of Dewi for a change, the sweetly carefree—as carefree as she ever was—and living-in-the-moment woman whose life could have gone a drastically different direction had things not worked out the way they did.
Had she not lost her parents.
Or had he not lost his.
